This morning, Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being harassed by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior at local town halls. For example, in one incident, right-wing protesters surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and forced police officers to have to escort him to his car for safety.

This growing phenomenon is often marked by violence and absurdity. Recently, right-wing demonstrators hung Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) in effigy outside of his office. Missing from the reporting of these stories is the fact that much of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obamas reforms.

The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress:

 Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.

 Be Disruptive Early And Often: You need to rock-the-boat early in the Reps presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Reps statements early.

 Try To Rattle Him, Not Have An Intelligent Debate: The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.

The memo above also resembles the talking points being distributed by FreedomWorks for pushing an anti-health reform assault all summer. Patients United, a front group maintained by Americans for Prosperity, is currently busing people all over the country for more protests against Democratic members. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the NRCC, has endorsed the strategy, telling the Politico the days of civil town halls are now over.

Meanwhile, AHIP, the trade group and lobbying juggernaut representing the health insurance industry is sending staffers to monitor town halls and other right-wing front groups are stepping up their ad campaign to smear reform efforts. The strategy for defeating reform  recently outlined by an influential lobbyist to the Hill newspaper as delay then kill  is becoming apparent. By delaying a vote until after the August recess, lobbyists are now seizing upon recess town halls as opportunities to ambush lawmakers and fool them into believing there is wide opposition to reform.
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Surprised?
Anyone who questions the dear leader is labeled a right wing nutter, and it's going to get worse.
People are speaking out at these "town halls" because they are very concerned and aren't receiving any real answers, just bleeding heart stories of why this garbage must be passed.

Keep in mind that "Town Hall Meetings" are supposed to be citizen's meetings not democrat citizen's meetings. If they are meant to be Democrat meetings they would be campaign events. We are not in the campaign season now, we are in a season of public input and debate for and about policies being proposed into bills to be voted on in both houses of congess. This is how representative democracy works.

Keep in mind that "Town Hall Meetings" are supposed to be citizen's meetings not democrat citizen's meetings. If they are meant to be Democrat meetings they would be campaign events. We are not in the campaign season now, we are in a season of public input and debate for and about policies being proposed into bills to be voted on in both houses of congess. This is how representative democracy works.

Click to expand...

REALLY, "public input and debate for and about policies being proposed..."

 Be Disruptive Early And Often:

 Try To Rattle Him, Not Have An Intelligent Debate:

HOW is THAT "public input and debate for and about policies being proposed..." ???

Being disruptive and subversive to undermine any legitimate "debate for and about policies being proposed" is NOT HOW our representative democracy is SUPPOSED to work...

It is a form of domestic terrorism... orchestrated by Pete Sessions (R-Texas)....

"Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban, and that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. And these Taliban -- I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban. No, that's not what we're saying. I'm saying an example of how you go about [sic] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with."

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